The Pond
by Moxxie Angel
Summary: I got the inspiration for this story from a dream. I meant to write it about something COMPLETELY different, but as I wrote this is what came out. I guess I took some things from my own life. This story is probably not what you think it's about. Enjoy!


Victoria Brement was out in her family's garden, her favorite place in the world. It's lovely flowers, sweet smells, and wonderful apple trees just invited her in.

What always seemed to call to her the most was the crystal-clear pond in one corner of the yard, in the shade of the tallest apple tree. Victoria just loved to watch the little orange fish darting around in that water, and adored the pink lilies floating on top. Even that big slimy toad she found, who seemed to call the pond home.

Victoria usually brought a book with her to read by the water's edge. She had written an assortment of poems about this quaint little place; reading and writing were her passions.

Her garden, for that's what she called it, was where she found solitude. She realized the beauty of it. She felt different from all the other children, though. They gathered around the television, just like her younger brothers and sisters, whereas she didn't take an interest in it.

Victoria's parents quarreled often, loud, terrible arguments. It scared the children and they would scream and even cry. On occasions such as these she would come to her garden, specifically the pond. You could say Victoria was not at all fond of her life. She felt unloved and uncared for. She was alone quite often and her parents never took an interest in her. She knew they didn't care. For all Victoria knew they had forgotten she lived here! She hadn't many friends to confide in, sadly. She kept to herself and was known to be shy and soft-spoken. Her raven black curls were her closest companions, aside from the robins nesting in the trees.

Victoria loved animals with all her heart. Her brothers would often set up traps and capture helpless squirrels, rabbits, and toads. They liked to torture them and cut off their heads, and when Victoria discovered this horrid act she was outraged. Ever since then she has been keeping close tabs on her siblings, ten in all.

The Brements were a large and wealthy family, which was why her parents argued. They argued over money, money, and more money. They were thought to be selfish and stuck up by most of the city. Victoria didn't like this reputation. The younger children could care less; they were all to young to know much about social positions.

Victoria longed for friends more than anything. So out by the pond she went, as much as possible. After breakfast dishes were washed, chores done, children looked after, she was allowed to have her privacy. Her home was amazingly large, so the other children could always busy themselves with hide-and-go-seek, TV, computer games, etc. Victoria didn't want to have anything to do with these things and preferred nature.

Looking down through the waters of the pond, Victoria always noticed a faint shimmering. She always imagined herself swimming down to the bottom and finding some sort of treasure, whatever it was. She didn't think herself brave enough, though she knew how to swim. Still, it bothered her terribly to know what was down there. Was it a lost treasure, a crown, a gold cup? Or maybe a trick of light.

Victoria decided one day to go out to the pond after dark. That way, if it were a trick of light, she would know. The sun can't play tricks on you if it isn't out, can it? She thought.

After dinner she was sent to bed, as usual. Victoria pulled out her book light and sat under the covers reading her latest novel. She must wait for her parents to come to bed before she left, so she might as well do something worthwhile.

An hour later the house was dark, quiet and Victoria put down her novel, slipped on a pair of sandals, and headed downstairs, as quietly as possible. Not a sound did she make as she tiptoed to the back door. Carefully, Victoria unlocked it and stepped out into the warm summer night air.

Perfect, she thought. Crickets chirping, locusts singing, her most favorite sounds in the world. Victoria walked over to her favorite spot in the garden and crouched next to the pond. Glancing in, she saw the most brilliant light ever! It was like gold, in brilliance, and was absolutely beautiful. It was much brighter than in daylight. It actually looked just like part of the sun had fallen off into the water. The light was wondrous...

Victoria felt like crying and didn't know why. She felt a feeling like she'd never felt before. When she looked away from the light it all went away, though. Victoria knew she just had to show her parents this! They would love it, she was sure, and they could help her find out what it was and take it out of the pond! If it gave them the same feeling it gave her, maybe they would change...turn into different people. It seemed kind of like a strange idea, but she must try. With great excitement, Victoria rushed back to the house, as fast as possible. She almost tripped over her own feet on the way.

Once inside, she rain up the staircase two at a time. At the top she ran to her parents room and flung open the door. Then she leaped onto their bed. "Mom, Dad, I have to show you something!"

"What in the world, Victoria? What is so important, that you must wake us in the middle of the night?" Grumbled her mother, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Go back to bed. You can show us in the morning," Groaned her father, sitting up to face her unsteadily.

"No, please come now!" Victoria pleaded.

"Ugh, fine, but make this fast!" Her mother said.

Victoria's parents slowly got out of bed, put their slippers and robes on, and unwillingly started for the door. Victoria excitedly led them through the house, trying to hurry them, and to the back door leading to the garden. "You'll love what I found. I'm not sure what it is, but it gave me the most wonderful feeling when I looked at it," Victoria chattered. Her parents didn't seem to hear what she said. Well, that will change soon, she thought.

She couldn't wait to share the treasure, whatever it was, with them. Victoria was sure to make her parents proud with her discovery! She never received much attention. This would change everything...

She finally brought her mother and father, with quizzical and annoyed expressions, to the ponds' edge. She gazed down into the silvery depths, just to make sure the light was still there, and was pleased to see it was. It was just as mystifying as before. The same extraordinary feeling came over her at its sight. "Now look down into the water! Don't you think it's amazing?" Victoria was practically swelling with pride by this time.

"I don't see a thing," Her mother frowned.

"Then you're not looking closely enough! See? You must see it!"

"What is this nonsense, Victoria? I don't have time for your games and lies!" Her father reproved. "It's just like that time you said you saw a dryad peeking from behind a poplar tree!"

"Oh, but I did! You just weren't quick enough to see it! I swear I saw it...but why can't you see the light?" Victoria wondered disappointedly. "I don't understand..."

"Well, your father and I need to get back to bed. And you should too!" Her mother ordered.

"Victoria! If you ever disturb us with your stories again, you'll be grounded to your room for a month! I thought you were old enough not to tell lies. Now I've lost sleep, thanks to you!" Her father reprimanded bitterly. "Get inside the house, both of you."

And he stormed off, obviously not caring if they actually went inside or not.

Victoria's mother, almost regretfully, turned toward the house and started walking back.

As soon as they were gone from sight, she sank down on her knees. "And they aren't just stories," She whispered sadly. She buried her head in her hands and cried dejectedly.

Victoria had lost all hope of making her parents proud of her. She had no wish to go back to bed, so she lay her head down on the soft grass and wrapped her arms around her knees. She sighed, a long, sad sigh. Victoria closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her.

She dreamed and imagined things she liked: whistling with the birds, reading her cherished books, sitting in the sun eating ice cream, watching the ducks swim on the pond. Victoria also imagined things she knew she'd never do: riding a pure white unicorn with a horn of gold, dancing with wood nymphs, singing with the faeries, sailing the seas as a pirate, living with wolves in the forest. All these things Victoria longed for; somewhere far away from everyone else.

But she reminded herself that that wasn't reality. She came from the fantasy world, back to the present. Victoria opened her eyes and remembered what she wanted to do: find out what that beautiful light was! If her parents couldn't help her, she'd just have to do it herself. Determinedly, Victoria stood up and looked down to the friendly glimmer. There was no choice and she had no idea of what else to do, so without a hesitation she jumped into the pond.

The water hit her like a cold slap in the face. She almost gasped, but knew if she did water would flood her nose and mouth. Luckily, Victoria was a very good swimmer. She started pushing and kicking her legs to propel herself to the bottom of the pond. She was great at holding her breath.

After a while she realized the light was farther away than she'd thought, and the pond was much deeper than she'd expected: Too deep. When Victoria looked at the light, though, she still had that wonderfully warm, pleasant feeling. It pushed her downward, made her feel like she could do anything, and gave her hope. She kept swimming. She wondered, how can I keep my eyes open without needing to close them at all? The water didn't seem to irritate them.

Now, looking up, she figured she was about half way down. Victoria wanted the light more than anything and now she was almost there, closer than she'd ever been! Over all her excitement it finally registered in her brain the fact that she was running out of oxygen. She started to swim back to the surface, but realized it was too late. I'm sure to drown, she thought.

Just as her muscles forced her to gasp in what it hoped was air, but was actually a mouthful of pond water, Victoria found she could breathe just fine. Her lungs welcomed the rush of oxygen. This unexpected surprise caused her heart to almost skip a beat. How strange! She thought. She took in another gasp of air to see if it was true. It was.

She decided to wonder about this new discovery later and finish her task. Victoria turned herself around and proceeded with the descent. The light and glow was more promising than ever. Surprisingly, her arms and legs weren't tired at all. What a peculiar night. Maybe its all a dream...Victoria shuddered at this thought. She wanted it to be real, but how could it? She figured she might as well keep sleeping and enjoy this dream while it lasted. It felt so real to her, all the same.

The friendly glimmering was so much closer, and as she gradually became nearer the feeling grew stronger and stronger and more intense. Victoria felt like laughing and dancing and so much more, all at once. It was overwhelming her.

Victoria was almost in touching distance of the light and it still hadn't taken a recognizable form. It didn't look like a treasure, a gem, a crown of gold, or anything like that. It was golden, though, and was maybe six inches long in length and width. It was spherical, but didn't seem like a solid object. The light that emanated from it was just dazzling! It stretched out around it for yards.

Nearer and nearer Victoria came, and then finally; Finally! She reached it. One thing puzzled her the most, though: This was mot the bottom of the pond. From where Victoria was she couldn't even see it! All she saw was an expanding blackness spread out below her. How deep was the pond? Was it even a pond? No pond could be this deep, could it? Victoria thought.

The beautiful light just seemed to float there, bobbing slightly up and down. Victoria had a sudden, terrible desire to reach out and touch it, but was almost scared to now. Nonetheless, she summoned up her courage and slowly lifted a hand, moved it towards the sphere, and ever so gently tried to grab it. Her hand passed right through it! And it felt so warm!

What happened next surprised her, frightened her, and delighted her. As soon as she touched it the light began to shake violently. This caused Victoria to withdraw her hand and swim back a few inches, with eyes wide. What in the world is this? She wondered. Then, so fast Victoria didn't realize it until she saw the light was gone, it swam to her and went right through her open mouth, down her throat and straight into her soul. The moment of shock and fright only lasted a second and the delight overwhelmed all those feelings.

It was like no other feeling in the world! Victoria could feel a warmth growing, somewhere deep inside of her. It grew so much that soon it surged throughout her whole body, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Victoria let out a wonderful laugh that surprised even her ears. She couldn't remember the last time she'd done that. The joy and thrill laughing gave her was so great it was almost unbearable.

She wanted everyone in the world to feel this way! She wanted to share it with her brothers, sisters, and most of all, her parents. But no; she felt inside that she knew she couldn't. This was her feeling and her's only. Victoria finally realized what it was: happiness. She felt she would just explode with it.

It was what she'd been missing out on for years; what she'd been yearning for. Down in her heart she knew it was what she'd been searching for her whole life. And here it was with her forever, now. Victoria had found her lost happiness in the place she loved; the pond.

And there she lives to this day; playing, swimming, dancing, and laughing. And Victoria learned that what you love best is where you find your _true _happiness.


End file.
